Sunday, October 8, 2017

Ryan Newman picked up the 10th last-place finish of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Bank of America 500 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway when his #31 Caterpillar Chevrolet was involved in a multi-car accident after 43 of 337 laps.

The finish, which came in Newman’s 578th series start, was his second of the season and first since Kansas, 19 races ago.

Following the last-place run at Kansas, Newman earned a number of strong runs without a single DNF. He finished no worse than 15th in the next six races, including a 4th at Dover and a 5th at Daytona in July. He survived the crash-plagued Brickyard 400 to come home 3rd, then entered the Playoffs with a streak of four consecutive finishes of 7th or better, capped by another 3rd-place finish in the cutoff round at Richmond.

The Phoenix win lifted Newman further from 16th to 11th in the standings, but a 23rd-place run in the Chicagoland opener dropped him to last in the Playoffs. Over the next two races, Newman fought his way to within two points of Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. for the final transfer spot, trying to stay on the lead lap ahead of leaders Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch. Busch passed Elliott with two laps to go and dispensed with Newman in the final corner. Those two points kept Newman from the Round of 12, sent home along with Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne, and Childress teammate Austin Dillon.

Newman started the weekend strong, running second-fastest in Friday’s opening practice to Kyle Larson with a best lap of 191.442mph. He then made the final round of qualifying, securing 11th with a lap of 189.813mph. With Happy Hour washed out, Newman lined up inside Row 6 alongside the #10 Warriors In Pink Ford of Danica Patrick.

Starting last on Sunday was the #83 Champion Machinery Toyota of Brett Moffitt. Moffitt, along with Erik Jones and BK Racing teammate Corey LaJoie, were the only drivers who failed to turn a lap in qualifying. In fact, both Moffitt and LaJoie didn’t turn a lap in practice, raising a rules issue as to whether either car would be allowed to start. In the end, NASCAR allowed both cars to take the green, citing that BK had presented both cars for inspection and had fired their engines in the garage.

Moffitt held last at the start, followed by LaJoie on Lap 1, then on Lap 2 the spot fell to Jeffrey Earnhardt. Circle Sport with The Motorsports Group welcomed a new partner on the green #33 Hulu Chevrolet this week with “Dynamic: The Original Self-Loading Wheel Lift” on the lower edge of the rear quarter-panels. Earnhardt was the first driver to lose a lap, which came on the 16th circuit. He held the spot through the first round of pit stops under the Lap 35 competition caution, when Timmy Hill and Gray Gaulding traded the spot. Gaulding, back in Premium Motorsports’ #55 Low T Centers Toyota, held last on the restart.

The event which threw Newman into the picture occurred on Lap 44. Coming off Turn 2, Newman crossed the nose of Clint Bowyer’s #14 Haas Automation Ford running to his outside, stuffing Bowyer into the wall. The contact sent Newman, just ahead of Bowyer at the time, hard into the outside wall with the nose of the car. Both cars careened down the track but managed to keep going. While Bowyer made it to pit road, Newman’s car caught fire under the hood, forcing him to abandon the car on the apron. Newman climbed out without injury and the car was quickly extinguished, but done for the day under the “Crash Clock.” He’d fallen to last under that same caution. Bowyer managed to finish 27th.

Finishing 39th was Moffitt, also eliminated under the “Crash Clock” when he incurred a penalty while the crew was attempting repairs on pit road. Both Gray Gaulding, who came to pit road with a fire behind the right-front tire, and Cole Whitt, who went to the garage for a broken hub on the #72 TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet, stayed in the Bottom Five for much of the race, but both returned to the track. Whitt climbed to 34th while Gaulding ended up 36th. Between Gaulding and Moffitt were David Ragan and Danica Patrick, who collided after Ragan’s #38 TheHouse.com Ford spun in Turn 2 on Lap 266.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was Richard Childress Racing’s first Cup Series last-place run at Charlotte since October 8, 1989, when Dale Earnhardt’s #3 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet broke the camshaft after 13 laps of the All Pro Auto Parts 500. That race was Earnhardt’s second of five career Cup last-place runs, his first since 1982, and his first for Childress.
*This marked the first last-place finish for car #31 in a Cup Series race at Charlotte since October 11, 1992, when Bobby Hillin, Jr.’s #31 Bryant Chevrolet was disqualified from the Mello Yello 500. For more on that story, the last time a Cup Series driver was disqualified, read our feature from last year at this link.
*This was also Newman’s first last-place finish at Charlotte since May 27, 2001. Making his third start at the time, Newman won the pole for the Coca-Cola 600, less than a week after he lost the engine while leading the Winston Open. Newman led the opening 10 laps, then crashed from the lead in Turn 4.

In Partnership With TheRacingExperts.com

Pick up your copy of "J.D.: The Life and Death of a Forgotten NASCAR Legend"

Click this picture for details on how to order the first stand-alone biography of the late J.D. McDuffie.

Upcoming "J.D." Book Signings

To Be Announced

by Brock Beard

40 drivers start a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race. 40 fill the grid in the XFINITY Series. 32 take the green in Trucks. Yet, even when the field is short, only a handful of these stories are ever told.

The mission of LASTCAR.info is to fill in these missing pieces one week at a time, especially regarding the least-covered racers in motorsports - the last-place finishers.

Since 2009, LASTCAR.info has covered the untold "race" for the most last-place finishes in NASCAR history - and, in doing so, continues to chronicle the trials and triumphs of those who race for something more meaningful than victory: survival.

New NASCAR articles and statistical updates are added following each Monster Energy NASCAR Cup, XFINITY, and Camping World Truck Series race weekend, plus driver features, historical retrospectives, editorials, and more.

LASTCAR Merchandise on RedBubble

Let everyone know which end of the field you watch!

LASTCAR: Cup Series Last-Place Finishers By Track - FREE!

A track-by-track breakdown of Cup Series last-place finishers at every track on the circuit, plus seven tracks from the 1972 schedule no longer in use today! Click the picture for a free copy with free updates each season!

LASTCAR: The Cup Series Book - On Sale For $3.99!

Click the image above to pick up your copy of the first official LASTCAR book, featuring a year-by-year history of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series from the perspective of the series' last-place finishers! The book is available for download at Amazon.com for just $3.99! Free updates with every purchase!

LASTCAR: XFINITY and Truck Series Expansion Pack - On Sale For $3.99!

My second LASTCAR book, providing a year-by-year analysis of the LASTCAR Champions of both the XFINITY and Truck Series, is now on sale for download at Amazon, Smashwords, and other online retailers! Click the picture for a free sample and more details! Free updates with every purchase!

Formulast One - On Sale For $2.99!

My first Formula One book, featuring a complete race-by-race list of every Grand Prix last-place finisher! Free updates with every purchase!

LASTCAR's Official Definition of a "Last-Place Finisher" (LPF)

For LASTCAR purposes, including rankings and statistics, a “last-place finisher” (LPF) shall be defined as any single NASCAR driver who, after earning a starting spot in the field for a NASCAR-sanctioned points-paying race against other NASCAR Sprint Cup, XFINITY, or Camping World Truck Series drivers, was at race’s conclusion classified as the last-ranked qualified driver in the field for said race. This classification must be recognized on official NASCAR results, or failing this, by a preponderance of unofficial sources. Only one driver can be classified as the LPF for any single NASCAR-sanctioned race.

So long as the above is met, the LPF can be any one driver classified as such for any reason, including but not limited to (1) a “did not start,” that is, an entrant who qualifies for a starting spot in the race, but for any reason is subsequently unable to start the event, including a post-qualifying driver switch if it is still recognized as the LPF in the results (2) an entrant who encounters an event once the race has started which prevents the driver from finishing ahead of any other qualified entrants, including both DNFs and a driver who finishes under power but laps down, (3) a decision to “start and park” the driver’s entry, (4) a disqualification handed down by NASCAR and/or track officials that subsequently classifies the driver in the final position behind the unofficial LPF.

LASTCAR shall not consider the LPF as anything else, including but not limited to (1) the lowest-ranked driver who finishes the race under power, (2) the fastest driver who does not qualify for the event in question, (3) a driver who was originally the LPF, but sometime after the race was usurped for the spot by a disqualified entrant NASCAR and/or track officials classified as the official LPF, (4) a driver who may be categorized as finishing last for exhibition events (these entrants shall be ranked only in the rankings for that event, and not commingled with LPFs).

In the rare event where official results or a preponderance of unofficial results are later updated with more accurate information about who was the LPF for that event, LASTCAR rankings and statistics shall be updated to reflect that change.

J.D. McDuffie (1938-1991)

Disclaimer

This is an unofficial NASCAR website. All articles, original art, and other entries are (c) Brock Beard. All car photos were captured from SPEED Channel, Jayski, FOX, ESPN, and TheHotLap.com, or their credited source.